Switched a birth?

Jacob just came in the house with a worm writhering around his finger. When I screamed, he said, "it doesn't hurt you mom. They're good, like spiders." I don't think he is my child.

Soap

Macie looked at the bar of soap in the hotel, kind of confused. I asked her again to wash her hands. And then she replied, "where does the soap come out?" Is it just us, or are bars of soap rarer these days?

Does God Speak Today?

This question is generally answered (in most Christian circles) that He does not, that we have the Bible and with it, His job is done. But to say this authoritatively would require God to declare such, thus instantly squashing the idea. Another rationalized 'no' response (and this is my favorite) is justified by 'we live in such an age of enlightenment that He doesn't need to'. These beliefs are spurred on by Satan. I believe that as surely as there is a God who wishes to bring us into His presence, there is also a very real Devil who will do anything to prevent this from happening. However, I also feel the most sophisticated counter attack of these the last days, Satan's greatest surprise offensive has been the attempt not only to eliminate a belief in God, but to pursue the agenda for a non-belief charter of himself. For if man could attain a level of independence void of an adversarial influence in life, a non-belief of black and white opposition to that which is good, such in his estimation is a great achievement. Removing God, His holy Prophets, and the Devil himself out of man's equation for happiness and peace will surely prove societies downfall.

Subscribing with the notion that all major religions are inspired to a degree (with few exceptions), I feel that Buddhists for instance, will lead one closer to God if their practices are applied in life. I also feel that over time, religions have come through the ages from the same tree (no pun intended Adam and Eve) and that things have gotten corrupted over time as we have lost direct contact to our one true God, making my  question above "does God speak today?" even more relevant. From the original teachings of the perfect and matchless Christ and His eventual sufferings and death for our sins, we might also find cultures sacrificing virgins for some appeasement to their Gods, a little skewed from the original but these two were once the same. Aside from this, I'm grateful for the spiritually born witness that God is not the author of confusion and that there truly is just one faith, one Lord and one Baptism. Now pause and ponder that if in todays world this were true, if a single people were chosen to represent His word, declaring that which truly saves and not just ethical, feel good teachings, would this not cause such a people much to answer before the Pontius Pilates of the fashionable religious elite?

What ways might we also show are evidence of divine communication today? Have we not seen an increase in earthquakes, floods, tsunami's, wars, rumors of war, plagues, and like destructions, all showing the groaning of watchful Heavenly Parent? Not least of these signs of the times is the moral decay of society, increasing daily at a steady rate in which the cannon from the true God of nature answers back with thunderous might. I'll say here that when something so formidable as a vote to draw a line on sin should see its overthrow in the court system really doesn't come as surprise at this time. I'd also like to add that some churches' teachings counterintuitively excuse personal responsibility towards righteousness, granting an instant salvation through lip service, thus forcing a truly unethical buzz phrase from its adherents judgmentally declaring the hypocrite for 'not loving his neighbor'. To this I simply say that sometimes loving your brother means giving the tough love necessary to help one in need of correction, always trying to justly love the sinner but not the sin. Uncomfortable as it might be (for the giver as well as the recipient), stopping short of this may constitute the enabling position many that have friends with addictions experience themselves. Churches shying away from teaching repentance unknowingly produce a people of weak faith.

Aside from the calamities and false teachings that plague the day, let's reason on a positive level that an added measure of the spirit as foretold in the prophecies of Joel, has increased and blessed our very existence in this winding up scene in earth's history. Is it a coincidence for example, that man has experienced a surprising technological flood of invention? In such a time it's easy to forget the God who makes all this possible, preventing one to ask why are we so blessed over our ancestors? Well, greater than our iPads, greater than our evolving forms of transportation, and even greater than modern medicine was the appearing of the Father and the Son to a young Joseph Smith in 1820, a start to what would become the declaring of the fulness of the Gospel, the restoring the priesthood to the earth, and showing that in the final hours, He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. As our spirit Father, He loves us and continues to show us how to find actual peace, even in today's turbulent world. I invite all to find comfort in this as I have, join with me as I strive to live up to (imperfectly) everyday the great blessings which are ours for the taking. In a day with as many interpretations as readers of the Bible, the reality is that it's everyone's right (and obligation) to find a personal relationship born through personal prayer to our Father, to follow the strait and narrow path. He loved us so much that He gave His son Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for our sins. This allows the escape from sin, not merely forgiveness therefrom, though inestimable they both are.

I invite all to read the Book of Mormon, if you don't have a copy, go online to mormon.org and request a free copy to be shipped to your home, don't wait around for a missionary to knock on your door (but let them in when they do, they're sacrificing the prime of their lives at their own expense to share with you these realities). Read from its pages and ponder if the message is not from God. What do you have to lose? It's your journey, no one elses. Critics may attempt to rehash the same explanations for it being anything but divine although these do and will always fail because it is Gods word. Walking by faith remains the order of the day and such is supported on prayer. Might we reason that archeological evidence may only go so far in supporting our faith with even the Bible, for though we may think to have found a general whereabouts to a once parted Red Sea, we are left without a spiritual witness that such happened, without scripture and especially without the Holy Ghost. As an experiment, read a chapter in the Book of Mormon such as 2 Nephi 9 and ask "could anything come from any other source but God?" I promise that the Holy Ghost will witness to your soul that these things are true in unmistakable fashion.

Through like faith we may also know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, chosen to restore that which had been lost due to a loss of priesthood authority. In like manner, if Joseph was a prophet we may know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints represents the kingdom of God on earth today. We may know that Isaiah's prophesied "marvelous work and wonder" from Isaiah 29 has commenced, alongside the final gathering of Israel. The only thing negative an honest man is left wondering is "what if this is this all too good to be true"? Well let me ask, is there anything God couldn't do? Why wouldn't He declare Himself to this generation? And why wouldn't God use prophets again? It would be pretty convenient for the sinner to hide behind a book that, over years and years of translations, has many discrepancies itself. No wonder it is foretold that there will be many hiding in caves at His return. Well too much has been given which is beyond the scope of these immediate thoughts, at some point I must end this paper. There is no other religion that produces more ample evidence that He lives, and that His bounteous love is available for all if we would but reach out and embrace Him. As John the Baptist came at a time to prepare a wayward people for Christ's mortal ministry, so too Gods ways, higher than our own, repeats the pattern and provides a means to be ready for the bridegroom when He shall come a second time. I close this in His sacred name, Jesus Christ, amen.

-Adam Christensen